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Questionnaire for Pastoral Candidate

What follows is an actual questionnaire used by one church to pare down its final 10 candidates for a pastoral position. Once you've narrowed the field from the initial onslaught of resumes, such questions can be helpful and financially friendly for your church in determining which candidates you would like visit or invite for a fun-filled weekend of candidating. Most questions can be asked of a candidate applying for any pastoral position. We would suggest using this list as a starting point to developing your own questionnaire customized for the needs of your church. May the Lord bring to your body the right person at the right time.

Personal

1. List your hobbies and any other areas of interest apart from ministry.

2. Describe how you came into a relationship with Christ.

3. Describe your call to the ministry and what motivates you to stay in ministry.

4. Describe your day-to-day spiritual life.

5. How do you get spiritually refreshed?

6. Have you ever been treated for depression?

7. What role does personal evangelism play in your life?

8. What steps do you follow to lead someone to Christ?

9. Describe the role of accountability for a pastor and how that has been a part of your life.

10. How are you strengthening and growing your relationship with the Lord?

11. What role does discipleship play in your life?

12. What do you do to maintain your health?

13. What do you do for fun?

Family

1. How do you balance your life between family and ministry?

2. How is your wife/husband involved in ministry?

3. How do the pressures of the ministry and expectations of the congregation impact your family? How have you responded in the past?

4. How do you maintain a quality relationship with your wife/husband?

5. How does your family feel about the possibility of your ministry move?

6. How do you function as the spiritual leader of your family?

Ministry

Personal ministry

1. What would you identify as your passion in ministry?

2. What is the most enjoyable part of your current ministry position?

3. Describe your spiritual gifts and how the Lord utilizes them in ministry.

4. In what areas of ministry do you feel most experienced and competent?

5. What role do you see evangelism playing in a believer's life?

6. How do you define "Discipleship"?

7. Describe any previous experience in determining long-range goals and other types of planning activities.

Local Church

1. What do you perceive the major task of the church to be and what do you see as your role in that?

2. What role do you see the Lay leadership having in the local church?

3. What would be your desired method of church government? What are your views on the relationship between: the staff, the board of elders, and the board of deacons?

Leadership

1. How do you identify the need for and go about developing a new area of ministry?

2. How do you supervise, motivate and develop staff, interns and lay leaders?

3. How do you define a leadership team?

4. What personality type do you best work with and what type do you struggle with?

5. What type of staff environment do you function in most effectively?

6. How do you facilitate change?

7. How would you address an unexpected budget shortfall?

8. What do you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of short term missions trips? Long term vocational missions?

9. What have you observed are some of the trends in missions?

Ministry/Programs

1. What role do you see small groups fulfilling in the church?

2. What experiences do you have in small groups?

3. How important is the children's ministry to a growing and dynamic church?

4. How important is a youth ministry to a growing and dynamic church?

5. How important is a single adult ministry to a growing and dynamic church?

6. Describe your philosophy of ministry for equipping the body.

7. What experience do you have in leading a pastoral staff team?

8. What do you see as the primary purpose for the Sunday morning services? (Evangelism, Equipping, Worship, etc.)